March 15, 2016
The Spirit of Tango
One of man's greatest limitations is egocentricity. We think first and often only from a personal perspective, and we act first and often only in our own interests.
But mankind is not always like that. When humanity was in its infancy and childhood, we relied heavily on each other for survival, everything was shared. Fraternity, cooperation and Good Samaritanism were our first nature. Doctrines like liberalism, individualism, feminism, personal freedom and individual rights appeared much later in human history, and are still imperfect theories, or in many ways even adverse to the best human interests overall, as attested by selfishness, greed, competition, aggression, inequality, obscenity, doping, gun proliferation, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, single parent family, LGBTQIAPK, etc., - all in the name of individual rights and freedom. "O Liberty! O Liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!" - grieved Madame Jeanne-Marie Roland. Mankind is still in its adolescence too self-centric to understand the relation between personal freedom and common interests of the species as a whole. (See The World Needs a Different Philosophy.)
Perhaps the most important lesson that tango teaches us is that we are interdependent rather than independent, that we need each other, that our personal well-being is inseparable from the well-being of others, that one cannot be happy unless all are happy, that cooperation and sharing serve us better than animosity and competition, that human rights are the collective rights of mankind as a species, not just personal entitlements, and that compassion and self-discipline are important attributes of what makes us human. Tango tells the other side of the human story. It awakens the better part of the humanity in us, and suggests the way for us to live together in peace and harmony through generosity in spirit, loftiness of purpose, altruism, and cooperation. Wherever we go and dance, tango always reminds us that love, despite our many limitations, is what holds us together as a team, community, people, nation and species. (See The Lessons of Tango.)
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Yes, it awakens the humanity in us. I go to the store and my conversation with another human being is reduced to “Paper or plastic?” I call the 800 number for service, and I’m gated through a set of scripted questions sandwiched between an insincere greeting, and a faux expression of appreciation of patronage that always sounds like “thank you for shopping at K-mart.” At the office I’m subordinated to the hierarchy, whether they are reasonable or not. My job is getting my inflexible computer to reflect the work product required by the human stakeholders. Here the ostensible platitudes are teamwork, cooperation, and service. Just under that veneer lays the narcissism, bullying, and desire to win at any cost. A ten minute tanda is a radical response to the dehumanizing reality of modern day-to-day living. It is an opportunity for two humans to embrace each other in the promotion of humanity. Don’t let the precious opportunity slip away because your partner isn’t a good enough dancer, tall enough, young enough, old enough, attractive enough, friendly enough……..whatever enough. Every embrace has a story – dance with it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your sound advice, I will follow it when I dance.
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